The Tricky Part - Martin Moran

I ran across a review of this book (and the pre-existing play by the same man) in a Denver newspaper this morning.

The story has become all too tragically familiar: a twelve year old boy is coerced into a sexual relationship with a much older Catholic figure of authority. The particulars of this event is that it happens at a summer camp and lasts for several years.

The strange part of the story is that the "victim," Mr. Moran, felt that he was having a love affair with this man. To this day, he refuses to publicly name his molester even though he has been convicted as a sex offender. Mr. Moran's work is not about victimization or loss of innocence, but about how he was able to find his own self-identity as a gay man and artist through this relationship.

Mr. Moran's life has since been plagued by sexual dysfunction, relationship trauma and suicide attempts, but he still insists that this was a beautiful things to have happen to him and that is what his play and his book are about.

This entire concept struck me deeply. As someone interested in philosophy I spend a great deal of my life trying to break down old notions of good or bad, but I have yet to be able to truly push past the taboos of society, child molestation being one of these that seems inherently bad.

Yet, here is the victim himself trying to change these notions and give us a new perspective. It is either a powerful and courageous stand to take or self-delusion taken to the deepest level.